Ellen Ochoa, American astronaut and administrator who was the first Hispanic woman to travel into space (1993), working as a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery. She later served as director of the Johnson Space Center (2013–18). Learn more about Ochoa’s life and career.
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Ellen Ochoa, (born May 10, 1958, Los Angeles, California, U.S.), American astronaut and administrator who was the first Hispanic woman to travel into space (1993). She later served as director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center (2013–18). Ochoa studied electrical engineering at Stanford University, earning a master’s degree (1981) and a doctorate (1985). A specialist in the development of optical systems, she worked as a research engineer at Sandia National Laboratories and at the Ames Research Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She helped create several systems and methods that were awarded patents, including optical systems for the